As always, CES lived up to its expectations: 2017 Round Up

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) gave us a trend which is going to rule in 2017. We would like to share some key innovations & trends that were announced, call it the CES 2017 Round up. This year CES witnessed an array of innovation’s across the segments. The major launches we saw were ranging from home audio products, appliances, laptops, TVs and many more. With this great year ahead, we can see some technology innovations to hit Indian market as well.

LeEco unveiled Android-powered BikeOS and feature touchscreen display named as Smart Road Bike that helps cyclists navigate rides and track performance. It features handlebar, SR Suntour XCR Air front fork, and 27.5-inch diameter wheelset. This one weighs 26.9 pounds. LeEco Smart Road Bike features an aerodynamic Toray T700 carbon fiber frame, fork, seat post, handlebar, and wheels. It weighs 18.5 pounds. LeEco’s smart bikes will be available in the US in second quarter of 2017.

Asus launched Chromebooks, slim laptops, and compact PCs. Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer has been amusing consumers by its latest innovation in segments like smartphones, PCs, Laptops, tablets etc. Asus has recently introduced Chromebook Flip C302 at CES 2017, which has a screen that bends 360 degrees to go into tablet mode. It runs Chrome OS and supports Android apps too.

Not only this, the brand has unveiled “the thinnest business notebook in the world”, AsusPro B9440 as per the company. It has a full-HD display, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The VivoPC X is around the size of a gaming console, and packs hardware that’s ready for VR gaming, thanks to an NVIDIA GTX 1060 inside. The keyboard has an interesting tilted angle for easier typing, kind of like the Surface Pro 4.

Qualcomm has been batting big on System on Chip (SoC) in recent past. Recent development has been the major achievement from the brand. The Snapdragon 835 is an octa-core chip built on a 10nm fabrication process features Quick Charge 4.0 and has improvements across the board. Two years down the line, Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon 810 chip, which was not up to the mark. Last year, 2016 the brand launched Snapdragon 820. We heard a lot about Snapdragon 835 at the end of last year, which provides power to a majority of Android flagships, finally, it has been launched.

Wearable & Virtual Reality (VR)

Last year, was a year for wearables. We saw brands & startups came up with new wearables devices. This year as well, we are going to witness some great wearables from the brand. At biggest technology event, CES we saw some great innovations in wearables. Some are worth mentioning.

Fitness Ring Motiv with a Built-In Heart Rate Sensor was unveiled.Motiv is a new fitness wearable that’s been unveiled. It’s a ring with a built-in heart rate sensor that sets a daily “active minutes” goal for you. This ring will track your steps, sleep, and the amount of time you remain active.

Wair, a French Startup introduced a scarf called, dubbed Wair, it is first “anti-pollution scraf” which can be both fashionable accessories & anti-pollution gas mask.

The scarf is worn as a normal scraf wrap, but it is baggy from the middle. If app notifies you, called “Supairman” — you can pull it up over your face and seal a respirator mask over your nose and mouth.

The scarf is supposed to contain an embedded filter that can remove dust, gases and bacteria. It’s unclear just how effective it will be, although the startup notes that the filter will need changing every two to four weeks, at roughly $5 to $10 each time. The product is expected to ship in a few months, starting at about $55 for men and $90 for women.

Another unique product came up from HTC, trackers for its Vive virtual-reality system that users can attach to physical objects such as bats or toy guns in order to make them part of a virtual reality adventure.

The company introduced a number of tracker-enabled accessories; including what it says is the first VR camera, multiple rifles built for VR shooters and haptic gloves. The tracker weighs less than three ounces; the company hasn’t set a price. HTC plans to give away up to 1,000 trackers to developers. The company will also offer first ever app subscription service, which will allow unlimited access to VR apps for a flat monthly fee. That service will launch in early 2017. However, HTC didn’t give a word on the prices.

TV’s are back!

There was a phase where, TVs were demand was diminishing with growing demand of laptops & tablets. This year at CES we saw major brands like Samsung, Panasonic ,LG & Sony introducing new & improvised version of TV’s. The moves come as high-definition and 4K TVs are becoming cheaper and more mainstream, so top TV makers are competing for the higher end of the market.

Xiaomi showcased the Mi TV 4. Mi TV 4 has a 4.9mm ultra-thin frameless metal body. The 65-inch version is designed with a modular approach, with the separate Mi TV Bar consisting of the mainboard and a sound system that supports Dolby Atmos, delivering a stunning viewing experience within the home that rivals the experience in a cinema.

New television sets from LG will include an ultra-slim model that’s less than 4 millimetres (0.15 inch) thick. The thin design also allows the TV to be wall mounted on a steel frame via magnetic brackets, thereby eliminating the gap between the TV and the wall.

The new TV will also have better audio, using Dolby Atmos technology, along with high-end OLED screen technology. OLED — which stands for organic light-emitting diode — can produce better pictures because each pixel produces light individually. OLED is rare in TVs and is currently found mostly in smartphones. LG also says an LG Technicolor mode will be added to TVs in 2017 to add to colour accuracy.

PANASONIC unveiled EZ1000 OLED TV and claims that it is the first HDR-capable OLED TV in the world. Whereas, Sony announced its first OLED 4k smart Bravia TV —XBR-A1E. It has a unique fold out stand that has all the ports and hides the TV’s internals. The range will include panel sizes of 55, 65 and 77-inches and all three will run Android TV. Sony’s standout feature for the OLED TV is audio.

Gaming Laptops

In our last post, we have mentioned about certain laptops & laptops which are prominent for gaming. Within the 4 days of span, we have come across certain more laptops from various brand.

LENOVO & Acer has launched LEGION Y720 & ACER ASPIRE VX15 respectively. Legion is Lenovo’s new subbrand for gaming laptops. The current launched model Y720, is powered by a 7th gen Intel Core i7 processor, NVidia 1060 GPU with 6GB dedicated memory, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. It has a 15.6-inch display with option of full HD or 4k resolution, multicolour backlit keyboard and is Oculus certified for VR.

It is also the first PC that is Dolby Atmos certified. ACER ASPIRE VX 15 a 15-inch full HD display and weighs 2.5kg. Hardware includes a 7th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 32 GB RAM, NVidia graphics with 4 GB dedicated memory and up to 512 GB SSD. There are four USB ports (3 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0), HDMI, Ethernet and an SD card reader. The gaming notebook is aimed at budget gamers with prices starting as low as US$ 800.

Kingston also introduced its DataTraveler Ultimate GT flash drive, touted as world’s highest capacity USB flash drive, with storage capacity up to 2TB. The newly-launched flash drive has been launched by Kingston in two storage variants of 1TB and 2TB. It will start shipping in February.

The leading brand in camera, CANON has introduced Powershot G9 X MARK II. It is a compact form & is the smallest cameras with a large 1 inch 20MP sensor. This one continues with its compact form factor and is amongst the smallest cameras with a large 1-inch 20MP sensor. The camera is powered by Digic 7 image processor, has 3X optical zoom, ISO 12800, full HD video recording and 8.2fps continuous shooting speed. There is a 3-inch touchscreen display along with WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity.